The Top 5 Spring ’16 Shows in Milan

It’s been a week of new beginnings in Milan. Peter Dundas, Massimo Giorgetti, and Arthur Arbesser made their debuts at Roberto Cavalli, Emilio Pucci, and Iceberg, respectively. Finally, there’s a changing of the guard in a city that has often been critiqued as sleepy and slipping behind the times. Still, it was the fashion capital’s establishment that truly impressed this season.

Everything came together for Donatella Versace this season, from the call to arms anthem of Violet and friends on the soundtrack to her diverse model casting. (Hello, Raquel Zimmermann, how we’ve missed you!) But the real revelation at Versace’s Friday night show was the broad offering of clothes. In the mix: de rigeur sexy little slashed and knotted dresses, the sharpest tailoring of the week, and a gotta-have-it army jacket patchworked with a collage of eye-popping animal prints. Donatella’s got accessories on her mind this season, too. The big surprise: Versace clogs!

Alessandro Michele has reversed Gucci’s fortunes, and reoriented the general direction of fashion while he was at it. Not bad for a guy hardly anyone even knew a year ago. The brand’s Monte Napoleone boutique was packed all week with shoppers eager to pick up a piece of his new vision for the house. A savvy extension to his first show, the new collection was full of joyous color and pattern, one sensational vintage-feel dress after another, accessories for days, and nods not just to Gucci’s heritage, but also to other Made-in-Italy icons. It’ll be absolutely irresistible to his converts.

Miuccia Prada has built a fashion empire with her eclectic visions. Embroidered fishnet dickeys worn over, not under, jackets; shoulder-grazing Christmas ball earrings; metallic gold lipstick on the models. Only she could turn a collection of classic skirtsuits and coats into an almost hallucinatory experience. The Best in Show award goes to that chartreuse and metallic gold snakeskin striped coat.

If Italian fashion is really in the first stages of a renaissance, then props must go to Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, who’ve been flying the flag for la moda for years. Their new collection was a love letter to postwar Italy—printed sundresses, movie star sheaths, borrowed-from-your-lover silk pj’s, and souvenir bags—with a social media spin. Models posed for selfies that were instantly posted on LED screens above the runway and on the company’s official social media feeds. It beats a postcard!

Boho comes and boho goes, but Veronica Etro lives and breathes it. Which is why in this season when the American prairie and Victoriana by way of the ’70s is trending, Etro’s collection feels less costumey and more authentic than almost anybody else’s.